ASHVILLE, Ohio — The Village of Ashville Council is set to consider spending $94,605.88 in police and law enforcement impact fees to purchase an Axon Air DFR drone system when it meets Monday, continuing a monthslong review of drone technology that began over the summer.
Council is scheduled to convene its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, according to a posted agenda. The new business item asks council to authorize use of the police impact fees fund to purchase the Axon Air “Drone as First Responder,” or DFR, system.
Axon Air DFR is a program that allows agencies to launch drones immediately when a call comes in, giving dispatchers and responding officers real-time aerial video before they arrive on scene. The system combines drone hardware from Axon and its partner company Skydio with a remote operations center, according to Axon, the Arizona-based maker of Tasers and police body cameras. Agencies using similar DFR programs elsewhere in the country have reported drones reaching some calls in under 90 seconds.
The drone request follows months of discussion by the village’s Public Safety Committee, which first floated the idea of purchasing drones at its Sept. 1 meeting alongside proposed rules for e-bikes and scooters and a neighborhood watch program. The committee returned to the topic Oct. 14, days after a new Ohio law regulating law enforcement drone use took effect. House Bill 251, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, sets statewide rules for drone deployment, including when a search warrant is required for surveillance flights, and bars agencies from arming drones with lethal weapons.
Council’s Monday agenda also includes the second reading of a resolution authorizing the village administrator and fiscal officer to execute an agreement with Local Waste Services Ltd. for the collection, transportation and disposal of residential solid waste, recyclables and yard waste generated within the village.
Also on the agenda is the first reading of an ordinance that would designate Cromley Street as a one-way street within the village and authorize installation of traffic control signage and pavement markings.
Ashville, a village of about 4,500 residents in Pickaway County located roughly 17 miles south of Columbus and 8 miles north of Circleville, is governed by an elected mayor and village council.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Village of Ashville.
